Dismissal of General Pushniakov is the first step towards cleansing of the General Staff – Soboliev

24.12.2015

The commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Anatoliy Pushniakov, turned in a resignation which was approved by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine. This information was reported by a member of the “Samopomich” Union faction, Anti-Corruption Committee Chairman, Yehor Soboliev.

“General Pushniakov faithfully served Yanukovych and falls under the law on power cleansing. We’ve been striving to lustrate this person for more than a year. People from the front have been seeking his dismissal because he is responsible for the pockets in which our army was trapped, starting with the Ilovaisk one,” said the parliamentarian.

“This is the first step towards cleansing of the General Staff, we must proceed moving in that direction,” he stressed.

People’s deputy, a member of the Committee on Security and Defence, Semen Semenchenko, commented on the situation, “We welcome dismissals of such generals, at least of their own volition, although according to the lustration criteria that would have been fairer. The next step for the society is to see the cases on the pockets in which our military were trapped being heard in court.”

We shall recall that General Anatoliy Pushniakov in the period from 10 May 2012 to 6 May 2014 served as chief of staff – first deputy commander of the land forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is the reason for his dismissal in accordance with the provisions of the law on lustration. After amendments to the law “On power cleansing” were introduced, due to which the President received the right not to lustrate individual high-ranking officers, the Defence Minister withdrew the submission on dismissal of General Pushniakova and applied for the withdrawal of him from the lustration law. The Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defence has not adopted a decision on this petition.